bryce-harper Page 2 - Sports News, Headlines & Highlights
The Philadelphia Phillies' offense is doing that thing again
The Philadelphia Phillies are an imperfect being. Yes, they’ve been that way for pretty much their entire existence. But every baseball fan/watcher knows that the recent vintage of the Fightins is kind of a top-heavy outfit, that generally plays defense like it’s just about to sneeze, and the bullpe...
Which MLB hot starts through Memorial Day are here to stay?
We’ve reached Memorial Day, the first real milestone of the MLB season. The first seven weeks or so don’t decide who makes the playoffs, but it gives us a pretty good barometer. But which (at least somewhat surprising) starts are here to stay?...
How every MLB team will tank their seasons and break their fans' hearts in 2023
You can all give up the Rogers Hornsby quotes, already. We made it Opening Day, when hope springs eternal for millions of MLB fans across the country, a least for a few days/weeks. We’d all love to believe that our team has as much of a chance of winning the World Series as any other but, realistica...
An 1800s outfielder is baseball’s most searched athlete… in Delaware
I spend a lot of time on Baseball-Reference. Apart from it being my job to do research and correctly relay player statistics to you, the readers, I enjoy looking back at old names from the late-90s and 2000s to see if they were as good as I remember them in my head. Casey Blake? Better than I rememb...
The Phillies don’t know when to settle
Dave Dombrowski and the Philadelphia Phillies apparently don’t understand the new atmosphere of baseball. The expanded playoffs mean, or were supposed to mean, that teams don’t have to go all out for 95-to-100 wins anymore. The Phightins are proof! 87 wins and a trip to the World Series!! You just h...
Bryan Reynolds requests a trade — what is he worth?
Remember a few years ago when a power-hitting shortstop was all the rage? They were a dime a dozen, and securing a shortstop that could be a serious threat in your lineup was an enormous deal. Nowadays, every team has one of those. The Boston Red Sox had two in Xander Bogaerts and Trevor Story last ...
It’s too early for the Blue Jays to be panicking
It’s hard to not see the Toronto Blue Jays sitting in the catbird seat. It doesn’t feel like the Yankees are exactly poised to hold onto their seat atop the AL East, even if Aaron Judge returns. They don’t have the potential for growth that the Jays do, given the youth of their roster. Bo Bichette, ...
Justin Verlander didn’t need this, despite what his critics say
It is strange that there was some perception floating out there that Justin Verlander needed a win in the World Series to somehow justify his career. When you’ve got 244 of them — no matter what pitcher wins might mean or don’t mean these days — and another 15 to boot in the postseason, you’d think ...
Hear me out: Cristian Javier should’ve remained in Game 4
Last night, the Houston Astros’ pitching staff combined for the second no-hitter in World Series history. Cristian Javier, Bryan Abreu, Rafael Montero, and Ryan Pressly allowed only three baserunners (all walks) while striking out 14 Phillies en route to evening up the World Series. There were only ...
They say a good fastball is still the best pitch
It still amazes me how quickly a baseball playoff series, especially one of the seven-game variety, can pivot. ...
Still amazed by the Phillies? You haven’t been watching them
The Houston Astros entered the World Series perfect for the postseason. They extinguished the sizzling Seattle Mariners, and then sent New York Yankees fans spiraling. And in Game 1 of the World Series, they looked inevitable, getting out to a 5-0 lead after three innings with Justin Verlander perfe...
World Series X-Factors: Who needs to step up for Houston Astros, Philadelphia Phillies to win the title?
The World Series kicks off tomorrow night between two teams with wildly different expectations heading into the postseason. On one hand, the Astros were the top seed in the American League. Houston reached the World Series in three of the last five seasons and reached the ALCS in all five. Everyone ...
This World Series is a beautiful juxtaposition
If styles make fights, then this World Series is for you. While the Houston Astros and Philadelphia Phillies have their similarities (like green mascots), they also occupy opposing poles in a lot of ways. And also the perception of them is actually opposite to reality in some ways as well. There are...
Aaron Judge to Hollywood?
Aaron Judge hadn’t been a free agent for…well, he’s not even a free agent yet at all, and already there is buzz that the Dodgers will be hot on his ass as they bid to create a 125-win team. The kicker is that according to MLB.com’s Mark Feinsand, the Dodgers would ask Mookie Betts to move to second ...
Where are all the Bryce Harper haters now?
For sure, all the Bryce Harper bashers are in hiding today....
This is what it's all about
It’s not usually supposed to work like this in baseball. The quirk, some would say the beauty, of the game is that the big at-bats can fall to anyone. They don’t always fall to a team’s star player, and in fact, they rarely do. Opponents spell out a strategy most of the time to make sure they don’t....
It’s impossible to be completely miserable (or happy) during the sports equinox
There are 17 gazillion things happening in sports right now, and as much as I’d like to update you on all the happenings of the opening weeks of the NBA and NHL, the World Series-deciding MLB rounds, College Football Playoff-ramification slates, and every NFL, EPL, MMA, boxing match, game, contest, ...
Houston, we have a champagne problem
Champagne isn’t the only thing the Houston Astros are keeping on ice. ...
If you were to watch the NLCS instead of just complaining about it, you might like it
There’s no denying that the ALCS is a bigger draw than the NLCS this year. The Yankees always garner eyeballs, New York and Houston have a recent, contentious history, and there is no fence straddling when it comes to the Astros’ cheating scandal. Either they should have a postseason ban like a coll...
Get good players, win good prizes
It obviously seems way too simple to distill the NLCS that kicks off tonight between the Phillies and Padres as two teams that just traded for or signed a bunch of good players. It’s a damning statement on where MLB is at the moment that this seems such a radical fucking idea. It’s the easiest thing...